My 1st Grow...Help Please! Gettin my Hands Dirty...

[bongcritter]

Hi everyone...

Let me start off by saying I LOVE this site...it has provided so much knowledge for me to read up on while i wait until the time is right to participate...I have grown indoors before twice, but it was with my brother and hydroponics. Now, three years later, I'm going to try my hands at an outdoor grow. Not too familiar with growin in dirt, and not familiar at all with growin outside!

I'm starting with some bagseed I've acquired over the past year or 2...I'm not expecting a great germ rate, but whatever...I actually haven't germinated seeds in so long I'm not sure if I've done it right..

I couldn't find any paper towels, but i had some napkins around, so I got those nice and wet, put some seeds in them about a half-inch apart, and then covered with more wet napkin.

I then put all these guys together in a cupboard above my closet basically..it closes up so it gets totally dark in there and its pretty cool i think..

After these guys start poppin...i'm gonna put them in this setup...got a dome thingy, with holders for the plugs, and some grodan plugs...

Then I was planning on just giving these guys some light and feeding them some water...wasnt sure about nutrients to give them so i was just gonna not give them any til they had roots poppin out of the plugs...then I basically plan on transplanting them into the wild!

I forgot to buy a tray for the bottom of the white thingie...how necessary is that? Can I just make one out of cardboard and then water them that way?

THanks in advance...I need any outdoor tips that you can give! Not sure if I should plant straight into the ground or put them into 5 gallon pots and then bury those...

please help! thanks in advance

 

[Schizophrenic]

Rinse\Soak those plugs in 5.8 ph water for a bit before moving sprouts in.

The tray isnt exactly necessary, those will hold moisture well enough on their own. You dont want them standing in water. They'd be soaked.....

As for outdoors, I start mine inside up until they are about 18" and in 4" rockwool cubes. Then I put them in planting bags with my soil mixture and plant THOSE outside. You can get planting bags at nearly any nursery. Everyone does it differently though, take a bit of time to read around on the forums. Plenty of answers to be found.

 

[Italiano715]

Then I was planning on just giving these guys some light and feeding them some water...wasnt sure about nutrients to give them so i was just gonna not give them any til they had roots poppin out of the plugs...then I basically plan on transplanting them into the wild!

I forgot to buy a tray for the bottom of the white thingie...how necessary is that? Can I just make one out of cardboard and then water them that way?

THanks in advance...I need any outdoor tips that you can give! Not sure if I should plant straight into the ground or put them into 5 gallon pots and then bury those...

please help! thanks in advance

When you do go to grow them outside, if you have a place that is safe to grow in just plant them into the ground, but if you feel you may need to move them then put them in buckets. Just so you know though, a lot of times with outside grows (especially if grown the whole year) the 5 gal. buckets may not be big enough for them. If your doing an outside grow, I'd recommend growing them in the ground and take care of them from there, as you won't have to worry about the space and it's the most natural way. Plus yields will more than likely be huge compared to growing in the 5 gal. bucket! Either way, continue what your doing and keep us posted on any new ideas/grow reports! GOOD LUCK!

 

[bongcritter]

Thanks a bunch for the quick comments guys! I like the planting bags idea Schizo...is there any specific kind I should look for? As a hydro/indoor grower, I am used to using half the nutrients provided, so the thought of just using a mix right off the shelf from a nursery sounds kinda crazy!

But I need to open my mind more to the world of outdoor growing....I have researched but there is so much out there its hard to cover it all!

Any tips on how to pre-treat the soil before planting right into it?? I understand digging a hole there and flipping the dirt around (tilling?) is a good help, but not sure if it even matters if I'm gonna be planting them in like 3 weeks anyways.

Sorry for all the questions! Love you guys...my next bowl goes out to you!

 

[Gunnarguchi]

looks and sounds so far good and as your on the right path
as said in here earlier the rock wool cubes are a little acidic and can hold a lot of water
just soak them before putting them in the tray
then when watering later make sure the tray is lifted up a little so excess water can drain off
otherwise it seems your on the right path to a good grow
good luck with it

 

[Italiano715]

Thanks a bunch for the quick comments guys! I like the planting bags idea Schizo...is there any specific kind I should look for? As a hydro/indoor grower, I am used to using half the nutrients provided, so the thought of just using a mix right off the shelf from a nursery sounds kinda crazy!

But I need to open my mind more to the world of outdoor growing....I have researched but there is so much out there its hard to cover it all!

Any tips on how to pre-treat the soil before planting right into it?? I understand digging a hole there and flipping the dirt around (tilling?) is a good help, but not sure if it even matters if I'm gonna be planting them in like 3 weeks anyways.

Sorry for all the questions! Love you guys...my next bowl goes out to you!

I would personally dig a nice deep hole, fill it with a store bought soil (organic preferably) and mix that in the hole with some type of guano, manure, rabbit poo, etc. and give it a good mix....Water the hole a good bit, then plant your babies in the ground and watch them as you will see how FAST they will grow outside!

 

[bongcritter]

Thanks again for all the posts guys!

Should I start soaking the plugs now? I was gonna wait a couple days or so since I'm really not expecting any action for like a week.

Day 2....nothing new....no action from the seeds, ive watered them twice though, they seem to be drying out quickly (the napkins)....they are resting on a wood shelf, maybe this is drying them out faster? I'll just keep watering them and waiting...hopefully I dont over water them!

 

[iSmokeFunk]

I usually put the napkins in plastic bags so they stay moist. Hopefully in another day or so you should start to see them open up, Good Luck!

 

[demasoni]

here, look over this thread theres great selection of soil mixtures to choose from. You just take your amendments and mix (yes, "till") them into the native soil. (a garden claw/pitchfork may be the choice over gaspowered tiller for your stealthy gorilla grow unless you are miles into the wilderness as you can figure but damn I dream of the day I can use a tiller on a bed in my front lawn to drop cannaladies in!)
Compost, peatmoss, perlite, then blood and bone meal alfalfa meal or kelp meal and lime. Those ingredients cover all the plants needs, as you read you'll begin to see a pattern of the better/most vouched for mixes contain similar/same soil dynamics (coco vs peat, EarthWormCastings (EWC) vs compost etc..similar ratios and still the same basic consistency in the end)

 

[bongcritter]

Hi guys!!

day 3...still no sprouts!!! I am considering moving them into the attic, since it is pretty warm up there, but not over 85-90 degrees...just put them in a dark spot and keep them watered...will that help, or is it a bad idea??

pray for some sprouts for me!!

 

[Italiano715]

I germinate in peat pellets and put them in a plastic gladware container in the dark at a temp around 80F. Haven't had a problem yet, other than some seeds being non-viable. That's about it though.

Also, too much water and you may drown them. If you have the humidity dome over them they should stay moist without having to water. Never used the plugs before, but I know too much water for seedlings is a bad thing too.

Oh, Almighty...Please let bongcritter's seeds sprout, be healthy, and supply em' with healthy plants at which they are ALL females and when smoked they have em' ....Amen!

 

[bongcritter]

Hi guys!

Thanks for the kind words Italiano! Something must have worked, cuz I got 2 seeds to sprout!

I took them out of the napkins and put them in a glass of water, covered with cellophane with holes poked in it for oxygen. The next day, boom, sprouts. So I'll give em another 24 hours and put em in the plugs!

 

[bongcritter]

Hello everyone!

It's been about a week til I first started trying to germinate these guys, and I got some sprouts today event hough they dont look that healthy...

I've moved the seedlings outside to get more used to the great outdoors.

Should I keep the humidity dome on, or no?

Heres some pics!

I have some Pure Blend Pro veg formula, and some Superthrive...Gonna feed the babies with a weak mixture of these tomorrow.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

Do they look overwatered? Should I keep the humidity dome on, or no? Too early to start with nutes?

 

[bongcritter]

hi all!

well, i havent gotten any responses, so I did these things:

1) left the humidity dome off...let them get some good oxygen flowing i suppose, while getting the plugs a little drier (i may have put the seeds in when they were too wet..)

2) i mixed up about 3/4 of a teaspoon of pure blend pro formula and a drop of superthrive into a gallon of water...shook it up nicely, and gave the babies a little watering

should I leave the dome off, or put it on? im goin out of town in a week for the weekend...probably will have some plots all set outside by then and have them out there, depending on how they do!!

heres pics of today...btw, sorry im pretty bad at taking pics, but ill hopefully get better...

any help would be greatly appreciated...or just any comments...anything!!

thanks guys!!! have a good one!!

 

[Climbinghigh]

They're coming along nicely, just make sure the plugs don't dry out too much at this stage and don't feed them too much. Germinating in potting soil seems easier/ more fool proof to me, but they look fine. Peace and Good luck with your grow.

 

[Rob547]

What's the weather like there? Looks like a good start, I would keep the dome on until they get bigger. Obviously if its not hot and you can put them in indirect sun it won't be as big of a deal, as above said make sure the cubes don't dry out, probably will happen pretty quickly on a hot sunny day. GL!

 

[bongcritter]

Hi guys! Thanks for the comments. I'll get some new pics up tomorrow...some more babies poked their heads out to say high!!

I guess I'll put the dome back on...suppose they will like it. It's been off for the last few days but I can change it up.

The weather is in the 60s-80s lately here, pretty sunny. Today was cloudy though. Not much rain yet. Been tryin to keep em with some water but not too much....we'll see how it goes..like i said pics tomorrow!

 

[bongcritter]

Whats up everyone!

Well, it rained last night, and I didn't realize this was going to happen...I just fed them yesterday and then as I go to sleep i hear KSHHHHH...rainn!!

So...the guys are soaked! I'm gonna leave the dome off to have em dry out as much as possible...

I'm worried these guys have had too much water as it is, and now they arent gonna like all this water! What do you think?? Should I keep em covered during the rain?

Got some bug spray yesterday...Ben's...it's 30% DEET...read on here that it's good at keeping the nasty stuff away....Still need to find some repellants for deer and such, and build cages, but thats a bit off....Gonna look for Liquid Fence, does anyone know where to get it? Don't really have a lowe's or home depot around me

Still been feeding them a small amount of Pure Blend Pro and a drop of superthrive per gallon of water...they turned nice and green after giving em this so I think they like it!! heres some pics

Here's a shot of some of the stuff I've got to use:

Some shots of the babies:

looks pretty gloomy today, not much sunshine:

Comments of any kind are greatly appreciated! thanks in advance!

 

[zappa66]

Hey man that Ben's is for you and not your plants right? Deet and plants = major clusterfuck. Otherwise looking good!

 

[bongcritter]

Yup, the Ben's is definately for me....i dont wanna get lyme disease...hate ticks with a passion...hopefully this will help...didnt see any reccomendations here after searching besides "DEET" so i chose this stuff